Organisational Wisdom

The way we're working isn't working. Leaders are  facing competing demands, budget and resource restrictions, administrative load, changes in strategy and policy direction, and difficulty maintaining  day-to-day focus on priorities. The best description of this state is a condition called ADT (Attention Deficit Trait) caused by brain overload. ADT is now epidemic in organisations. The core symptoms are distractibility, inner frenzy, and impatience. Leaders with ADT have difficulty staying organized, setting priorities, and managing time. These symptoms can undermine the productivity of even the most dedicated leader. Something's got to change. It's not just about faster task performance and better information technology. Research into the effects of mindfulness at work show the benefits of having a calmer, more open and undistracted mind, greater self-awareness, and an enhanced capacity for self-transformation. So how do you become a mindful leader? Ask for a c...

“We have to get this project across the line before the final whistle blows or we’ll have to take a punt.  It’s important to punch through as the goal posts keep moving.” This is the kind of language common to leaders in almost every Western-based workplace. But the manager who believes that using sports metaphors is universally motivating demonstrates lack of insight into cultural sensitivities. Surely sport as a common denominator and a way of bonding in business has gone the way of the 1950’s typing pool. The modern work place eschews stereotyping and with that the assumption that all races, genders and cultures relate equally to football,  cricket or boxing metaphors.  Covert or unconscious stereotyping creates or reinforces a hierarchy of difference and is at the root of adverse treatment of oppressed groups. Performance psychology is well known and used in sports and in business.  But the sports arena has no relation to...